Signs that Rick Santorum is suddenly a contender in the race for the Republican nomination for president were all over Iowa on Thursday.

The former Pennsylvania senator - who has built his long-shot campaign around trying to appeal to evangelical Christians in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday - received a boost when several prominent preachers said their followers were coalescing behind Santorum.

Some preachers called on one of Santorum's chief rivals for the influential evangelical vote, Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, to abandon her campaign, or fold hers into Santorum's.

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